RandyDandy, an American Expat in London

Yesterday I spent a large part of my evening with around 2,000 other Londoners and curious onlookers protesting the sheltered visit of President Bush, as he makes his farewell tour around Europe. He did not come out to meet the people. Instead, the police shut down Whitehall at the administration’s request and stationed over 1,000 police, many in riot gear, at the Parliament end of Whitehall, where the demonstration took place.

Highlights included an hour or so of speeches in Parliament Square by a Who’s Who list of Brit peace activists, including Bianca Jagger, Brian Eno, Brian Haw, and George Galloway. Then the call was made to challenge the barricades blocking Whitehall, and the fun began.

A couple of YouTube clips for your enjoyment, with cameos by yours truly in both. In the first, Parliament Square activist Brian Haw gives powerful testimony to the crowd. I’m the bald guy hogging the foreground. In the second, you can spot my bald head moving into the frame at around 1:30, camera held aloft for super accuracy, and again at about 1:55 as the action moves down the street.

For pictures I took of the day, see my Flickr stream.

In true British fashion, the day was peppered with humor, even during the tense moments at the barricade. The men and women in riot gear did their best to behave professionally, but several of them couldn’t resist cracking smiles at some of the humorous moments. One of them even stuck his gloved hand up over his helmeted face to hide his embarrassed grin after he was called out by someone in the crowd. This brilliant young organizer commandeered a megaphone after things started to get a little out of hand and managed to calm everyone down with jokes, poking a bit of fun at the crowd, the police, the snipers (?) on a distant rooftop, and the general silliness of the situation.

I must say I was quietly amused at the irony of a protest against imperialism in a country which owes its wealth to its imperialist past. And the squeaky clean suburban college boys shouting about “the workers” with their middle-class London accents.

I left the square just after 9pm (the event began at 5) as things had cooled down significantly. Walked over to the river and along the embankment, then cut back up to an open section of Whitehall on the other side of Downing Street. The sidewalk was open, but the police were standing guard in the street in preparation for the motorcade. Not much of a crowd assembled to see him off, but I stuck around to give him the finger. There were children nearby, though, so I behaved myself.

Linkies: Stop the War Coalition, Respect

Tags:   Bianca Jagger · Brian Eno · Brian Haw · Bush · democracy · demonstration · George Galloway · London · Parliament Square · protest · Respect · Stop the War Coalition · UK · Whitehall · youtubeNo Comments